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La Conner Fire Department gets improved rating, new gear

Skagit Valley Herald (Mount Vernon, WA)

March 18--LA CONNER -- The new year has brought positive changes to the La Conner Fire Department, including an improved fire protection rating that will lower fire insurance rates for residential and commercial properties.

The department recently received an audit from the Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau that evaluated the department's fire protection capabilities.

La Conner improved its classification from a 7 to a 6.

"I think it's great," La Conner Fire Chief Josh Morrison said. "A lot of people get scared when they hear 'audit,' but it's a great place to set goals for the fire department."

Morrison said among the reasons the rating improved was the implementation in January of a program in which volunteer firefighters sleep at the station, improved training and a new fire engine.

He said having volunteers sleep at the station has been going well and that it has improved response times. Two volunteers are guaranteed to be at the station at night.

Residents and business owners can expect a decrease in fire insurance costs starting July 1.

The department also received new breathing apparatuses with air bottles and masks, and a new rapid intervention team kit that will help extract firefighters or civilians from a building during emergency situations.

The new gear came by way of a $1 million federal grant given to four agencies, including the La Conner and Anacortes fire departments.

Morrison said the grant was thanks to the Anacortes Fire Department, which wrote the grant.

"Without their support, we would've been in the same position we have been in all these years (without new equipment)," he said.

La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes said the town is pleased with the new equipment.

"We are grateful to Anacortes for leading the charge for this," he said. "It was much-needed equipment, especially for volunteer firefighters. We need the latest equipment to keep the community safe."